The trial of French movie star Gerard Depardieu is ready to start in Paris at present on prices of sexually assaulting two ladies.
Depardieu, who has appeared in additional than 200 movies, is taken into account an icon of French cinema. He’s alleged to have assaulted each ladies throughout the making of the movie Les Volets Verts in 2021.
If convicted, he could possibly be jailed for as much as 5 years, though it’s extra doubtless he could be hit with a mixture of a suspended sentence and a big high-quality.
Depardieu has denied the allegations, claiming he has by no means “abused a woman”. He has been provided assist by a gaggle of actors and administrators, who stated that an assault on Depardieu represented “an attack on art itself”.
The trial is seen as an enormous second for the rising MeToo motion in France.
MeToo, which turned well-known in America throughout the Harvey Weinstein rape case, exists to spotlight sexual violence in opposition to ladies and to push for extra motion by authorities. It has typically positioned a deal with areas similar to filmmaking, industries which have lengthy been dominated by males, the place a blind eye has incessantly been turned to sexual abuse.
President Emmanuel Macron described the actor as “the pride of France”, sparking an indignant response from campaigners who claimed he was undermining efforts to guard ladies from violence.
The French actress Lea Seydoux, identified for her function within the Bond movie No Time to Die, described Mr Macron’s phrases as “crazy”, saying “it gives a very bad image of our country”.
Depardieu has lengthy had a status for residing a lifetime of extra and indulgence, together with his followers lauding him as a maverick. Nevertheless, extra just lately his reputation has declined as he has confronted a rising variety of claims of inappropriate conduct.
The 75-year-old is because of face one other trial subsequent yr after he was charged with raping the actress Charlotte Arnould twice at his house in Paris.
